| This question <37|158-4> overall <156-3|157> Che: <156|158-2>. |
| Exam Question 89: What is abstract human labor? I want you to say what it is, not what its significance is in commodity-producing society! These are two different questions. |
| [156-4] Che: Abstract human labour, or as Marx refers to it as congealed abstract labour, or homogeneous human labour is the notion that labour produced by individuals and the labour force of society processes a qualitative nature about it that generates value in a commodity. It is markedly different in nature from concrete labour in the sense that abstract human labour is infused with human expended human energy, that is manifest through mind, nervous system and body. This energy of human labour is what gives the commodity its value. The time and energy that is taken from the societal pool of human labour is what yield value in a commodity. This value, which is generated by abstract human labour, that housed in the commodity is what garners profit for the capitalist. This idea of abstract human labour is also the bridge that Marx argues creates equality between commodities. |
| The excess human labour that goes into the production of a commodity generates not only value, but is what is the driving force in a capitalistic economy. Therefore, for Marx it is not the act of labour itself, but more importantly what is expended by the labourer in terms of energy of body and mind, that is required to produce a given commodity. |
| Hans: Very good, just a couple of details: |
| Congealed abstract labor is not the same as abstract labor but it is abstract labor materialized in an object, while abstract labor itself refers to the labor process. |
| Your last sentence should read: |
| For Marx it is not the act of labour itself, but more importantly what is expended by the labourer in terms of energy of body and mind, that generates the value of a commodity. |
| Somewhere, Marx says, roughly, I am quoting from memory: the concrete labor produces the commodigy but not the value of the commodity. This value is produced by the worker's expenditure of abstract labor. |
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